


A Beginning

by Tokyo_the_Glaive



Series: Tumblr Shorts [12]
Category: Fire Emblem: Soen no Kiseki/Akatsuki no Megami | Fire Emblem Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn, James Bond (Craig movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Crossover, Gen, M/M, Magical Artifacts, Pre-James Bond/Q, Racism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-12
Updated: 2016-06-12
Packaged: 2018-07-14 15:17:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7177073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tokyo_the_Glaive/pseuds/Tokyo_the_Glaive
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>That mark—that brand; Q’s father had told him what it meant in neutral terms and without judgment just as he had taught his son how to heal with staves, a rare power that could not be easily passed down—ensured that no one came near him after his parents died.  Those who were ignorant of its true meaning assumed he had made a pact with spirits and sold his soul for his skills; those who knew averted their eyes and murmured prayers to the Goddess to smite the abomination before them when Q passed.</p>
<p>Needless to say, Q didn’t get out very much until a man he’d never seen before dropped out of the sky and into his vegetable patch.</p>
<p>(Or, the one where Q's Branded and a healer, Bond flies a wyvern, and they only meet because Bond falls headlong out of the sky and nearly gets himself killed.)</p>
<p>(A Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance crossover. Knowledge of the game might clarify a thing or two, but I think someone who's never played won't miss anything.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> For a tumblr prompt: "Fire emblem /00Q crossover? Bond might need to get blue hair if he ends up a lord…"
> 
> No blue hair here, but plenty of Fire Emblem to go around! I hope you enjoy.

The village of Melys could be found close to the southernmost tip of Begnion, far from the capital of Sienne but right next to the southern seas.It sat well above sea level, a sheer rock face descending down to a skinny, pebbled beach and on into the depths of the ocean.Winters were warm and summers hot; farmland stretched as far as the eye could see and even farther yet.A Senator officially owned the land, but as he lived in Sienne and governed from afar, life went on without much in the way of interruption, and not one of the villagers could claim to have even seen him.On occasion, pirates—generally Kilvas corsairs, but sometimes common thugs—followed merchant vessels to one of the nearby ports, but Melys was never a primary target and never suffered damages.

Queris, nicknamed Q by his parents when he was still a baby, lived out there, right on the edge of the cliff, all alone.It wasn’t by choice.He had lived with his parents while they’d been alive, though that had been some time ago.

His mother had been well liked because of her intense beauty.When she went into town, she drew stares.She’d lived in Sienne before marrying, serving as one of the Holy Guard.She’d met Q’s father, an honest, stern clergyman, and they’d run away to Melys to escape the city life.Where Q’s mother had been the talk of the town for the duration of her stay, his father had been too quiet by the estimation of most of the villagers, who thought him a schemer.In truth, he was merely a devoted healer in perpetual awe of his wife, but his dark features and heavy brow kept anyone who might learn from him well away from his door.

When Q’s parents died died, they left him alone.He’d always been a peculiar child.He was awkwardly built even for an adolescent, all gangly limbs and bad skin and bony features.He grew into them all, though it was a slow process that left him with a poor estimate of his own appearances.Unusual as he looked, he had other traits to make up for it: spectacular eyesight and hearing, and very quick reflexes.Those proved useful time and time again.

Unfortunately for Q, his strangest physical feature—and the reason for his unusually good senses—wasn’t something anyone could grow into: an arcing, swirling black mark on the left side of his neck that no amount of scrubbing or praying or wishing would make disappear.It had been there when he was born, it would be there when he died, and it had proved almost impossible to cover up in the heat of Melys without drawing undue attention, not that anyone who might see him didn’t already know.

That mark—that _brand_ ; Q’s father had told him what it meant in neutral terms and without judgment just as he had taught his son how to heal with staves, a rare power that could not be easily passed down—ensured that no one came near him after his parents died.Those who were ignorant of its true meaning assumed he had made a pact with spirits and sold his soul for his skills; those who knew averted their eyes and murmured prayers to the Goddess to smite the abomination before them when Q passed.

Needless to say, Q didn’t get out very much until a man he’d never seen before dropped out of the sky and into his vegetable patch.

* * *

Q didn’t see the fall, but he heard it.  He was cutting vegetables at the little table in the house his parents had left him when he heard a terribly loud screeching noise and the soft _whoosh_ of air.

_Wyvern_ , he thought distantly.Someone else might have hit the floor or hid in anticipation of trouble, but Q merely grabbed his knife at a different angle and walked toward the door.

_Wyvern_ , Q confirmed, instantly freezing in place.

It was an enormous creature, all dark green scales and spikes and teeth—very, very large, sharp teeth.Its beady eyes fixed on him, and it arched its back, snapping its jaws.Q would have been afraid had he not been confused: the thing didn’t scream as it had before.

Q’s ears, sensitive as they were, picked up what someone else might have missed: labored breathing, and a spluttering cough.

The wyvern’s rider, Q guessed.The beast was trying to protect its fallen master.

Slowly, Q raised both hands, dropping the knife.The wyvern arched dramatically now, snarling without making sound.

“I’m not going to hurt them,” Q said, voice neutral.He hoped this one was well tamed, otherwise he risked being ripped limb from limb.“I can heal.”

Q backed slowly into the house, hands still up, until he came to the table.On a shelf nearby sat his father’s old staves, dusty from disuse but still functional.Q returned holding one in hand, polishing the blue orb on the end with his sleeve in hopes that the wyvern would recognize the device and understand that Q meant no harm.

The beast narrowed its eyes at him, then snapped forward.Q jumped backward to avoid being caught in its jaws and nearly dropped the staff.

Under the wyvern, the fallen rider’s breathing slowed.

The wyvern crooned then, low and hurt, and drew back.It watched Q, poised and ready to strike, even as it slowly backed away.

Q came forward to see what he was dealing with as fast as he felt safe.

As the wyvern withdrew, pulling its wings out in an aggressive posture, Q saw that his hypothesis had been correct: there was a fallen rider, barely breathing and badly bloodied.He wore no official insignia, but the only wyvern riders Q knew of who could even reach Melys alone would be those working for the Senate under royal command.Or, of course, he could have been some loon who’d stolen a wyvern, but thieves of that variety were more likely than not to be eaten by their plunder.This man’s wyvern seemed possessive and concerned; no doubt they’d been together for many years as a rider and mount.

Q knelt next to the groaning man.He didn’t bother rolling him over or moving him; instead, he spoke the words his father had taught him years ago, the incantations that could mend broken bones and reknit muscle.He spoke them over and over and over until he thought he’d twisted his own tongue, until the man stopped groaning out of pain and began breathing regularly.

When it was finished, Q found that he could not stand.He blinked rapidly, the green grass and blue sky and enormous wyvern swimming before his eyes.He hadn’t healed anyone in years.After his parents had died, there had only been one desperate mother with a sick child who had braved Q and his cursed existence for one last shot at life.Q had delivered, and the woman had thrown coin at him as she fled with her child, eager to be free of him.

The wyvern came forward.Q saw it in double and wondered if this was how he would die.He closed his eyes and waited.

Hot breath on his neck had him shivering.The wyvern sniffed him, then—Q opened his eyes, curious—nuzzled at its fallen master.The man groaned again and rolled onto his back.

“Ah,” the man said.Q didn’t know if he’d been seen yet.He wondered if he should retreat, if he should hide and pretend the man had recovered on his own— “Who are you?”

_Too late_.“You must have fallen from a terrible height,” Q said.“You were badly injured.”

“You healed me.”

“Yes.”

The man tried to sit up.Wincing, he eased himself back down onto the ground, then surged up so that he sat up.His armor was dented and his clothes torn and bloodied—no amount of healing could fix inanimate objects.He flexed his hands, stretching.His wyvern keened, low and quiet—no doubt it had been trained that way so as not to damage fragile human eardrums.Q thought the earlier screech might have been bellowed out of fear—fear for the man Q had just resuscitated.

“Shh,” the man said, gesturing at the beast.“It’s fine, Felix.I’m fine.”He looked to Q.“Thank you,” he said.

“Any time,” Q said.He felt awkward, and he realized that this was the longest conversation he’d held with another person in—he didn’t want to think about how long.

The man stood, still shaky on his legs.The wyvern—Felix, Q supposed it was called, stretched out its neck so that the man could lean on it.

“I’m Bond,” the man said, “James Bond.And you are?”

“Queris,” Q said.

“Queris,” Bond said, testing the name.His eyes caught on Q’s throat and stayed there.“Do you live out here?”

“Yes,” Q said.He gestured at the small cottage directly behind him.

“Any family?”

“Does it matter?”

Bond frowned.“I don’t have any gold to repay you,” he said.“I can return—”

“No,” Q said, quickly.“I healed you because you were there.I don’t desire any payment.”

“I insist,” Bond said.“There must be something I can do.”

Q hesitated, then shook his head no.“Please, leave this place,” he said.“If the villagers find out you’ve spoken with me, they won’t give you the time of day.”

Bond looked up at the sky, then back to Q.

“That’s some skill you have,” he said.“The ability to heal is rare.I’ve only seen it in the service of a handful of Senators.”

“So you work for the Senate,” Q said.“You don’t have any of the badges.”

Bond hummed and didn’t reply directly.“You could be living the high life in Sienne.Why are you out here, Queris?”

“Maybe I want to be,” Q said.Bond had hardly looked away from the brand on his neck. _You know, you bastard_ , Q thought viciously.“Please, I ask that you leave now.”

Bond took a step forward, and Q raised his staff in defense.Bond stilled.Behind him, Felix stretched, eyes fixed intently on Q.

“Forgive me,” Bond said, raising his hands.“I meant no offense.”

Voices came from the distance, carried by the wind and amplified in Q’s ears.He could see them— _villagers_.No doubt come to see what the commotion was about.

“I-I have to go,” Q managed, backing toward the door.He couldn’t deal with their hateful gazes, not right now.

“What?Why?” Bond asked.

Q turned and ran inside, bolting the door behind him.

It was quiet for several long moments—Q knew Bond and Felix were still outside, and the villagers were coming closer.

“Wait, wait, _he_ lives up there!” one of them called.“Don’t get too close— _Wait_!”

“It’s— He’s alive!The rider, he’s all right!” came the second voice, much younger.“Hi there, mister!”

“Hello,” Bond said.

The first one Q had heard came up behind the second, breathing hard.

“You shouldn’t run so far ahead of me like that,” he snapped. _Father and son_ , Q thought.He tightened his grip on his staff and sank against the door.“ _He_ might have been out and about.”

“Sorry, ada,” the boy said.“I just— Hey, that’s a wyvern!”

“Yes, it is,” Bond said.“Excuse me, but when you say _him_ —do you mean the boy who lives in this house?”

The father murmured a prayer—protection against evil, a ward of the Goddess.

“Aye,” he said.“He’s a cursed lad.Everyone knows it.”

“He’s an outcast?” Bond asked.

“Brings nothing but harm,” the father said.“Did you see him?He’s a terror, I’ll tell you—better come to the village and steer clear from here.You look unharmed; did your wyvern catch you?The watchman said he saw a fellow fall from a wyvern.”

“No,” Bond said simply, “and thank you, but I’ll be staying here.”

“Eh?” the father asked.

“You don’t want to come to the village, mister?” the boy piped up.

Bond said, “Queris healed me.You say he’s cursed because he has the brand on his neck, but have you actually spoken to him?”

“You _spoke_ to that thing?” the father asked.“Oh, you must be… Son, we have to go.”

“But—”

“ _Now_.”

The pair fled.Q could only assume Bond watched them, as he heard nothing but the steady breathing of him and his wyvern just outside his door.

Slowly, Bond approached.Q jumped at the sound of knuckles rattling against his front door.

“Queris?” Bond asked.“They’re gone.You can come out.”

Q moved so that he didn’t directly block the door and reached to open it with one hand without standing.It fell open, and Bond stood at the entryway, looking inside.

“Well, it has a certain rustic charm,” he said conversationally.

“Why did you do that?”

“What?”

Q scowled at his lap.The blue orb on the staff twinkled in the light from the door.

“Why didn’t you follow them?” he asked.“They would have put you up like a hero.You’ve got a wyvern.You’d have been a legend in our little town.”He spat those last few words with more vitriol than he’d intended.

Bond shrugged, leaning against the wooden doorframe.“They said you were cursed, but that’s just blood, isn’t it?”

“Then you know what this is?” Q asked, rubbing his neck.

“Of course,” Bond said.“I’m a soldier, but I did receive an education.”

“Then you know I’m a monster and you ought to leave.”

“An abomination and a crime against the Goddess,” Bond said.“That’s what the Branded are—according to books, anyway, but you’re the reason I’m still breathing, so forgive me for not believing the myths.”

“I’m not a _myth_ , Sir Bond,” Q said.

“I’m no knight,” Bond said, “nor am I a lord.And I didn’t say you were a myth.You’re very much real.”

“Say what you mean,” Q said, glaring at his visitor from his place on the floor.

“An abomination would have let me die,” Bond said simply.“Therefore, you are something else, and what I was taught was wrong.”

“You’re willing to see things that way just because I healed you?”

Bond frowned.“I’m not sure of your background, but I’m not sure if you’re aware how uncommon the healing arts are.The scars I bear are because healers refused to heal me in favor of those more important than I.You healed me without so much as knowing my name.”He looked over his shoulder.“Besides that, Felix likes you, and he doesn’t like anyone—not even me, sometimes.”

“It’s got a funny way of showing it,” Q murmured.

“The way I see it,” Bond said, “you can sit out here for the rest of your life, staring at the sea all by yourself, or you can leave.”

“Those would be the two basic options,” Q said, voice dry.“Stay or go.What do you care?”

“You saved my life.I owe you a debt.”

“I told you—”

“Doesn’t matter.I owe you, and that’s that.”

Q sighed and stood up.“I’m not leaving,” he said.“If you insist, you can come back with gold, though I don’t want it.Just— Just go.”

“Queris—”

“Get out.”

“I will,” Bond said.“I will.But I want you to think about it.I’ll come back tomorrow.I’ll pay you if that’s what you wish, or I’ll fly you as far as Sienne.”

“Why?”

Bond sighed.“Just think about it,” he said.Q watched as he walked out the door and to Felix’s side.Bond mounted the beast and dug his knees into its flanks.With a snort, the wyvern stretched out its wings and _pushed_.The world seemed to heave under the weight of the displaced air.Slowly, Felix climbed until it and Bond reached a high enough altitude for flying, and then they were gone.

It struck Q, after Bond had disappeared into the blue, blue sky, that he had no idea what had caused his fall.Not only that, but he didn’t know what to do.It would be an easy thing to accept the gold, but… But.He looked around his spare house.It had once kept three people with ease; it had been bright and comfortable and _home_.Now, it was empty, derelict—Q would have thought it abandoned had he not been the one responsible for it.Was there anything here for him?Then again, could there be anything in the capital?

He returned, slowly, to his vegetables, his mind turning over the infinite possibilities that had quite literally fallen into his lap.

* * *

When Bond returned the next day, as promised, it was to see Q sitting in front of his home with a satchel beside him, dressed for the road.  He’d found himself a scarf that he’d wrapped tightly around his neck.  He doubted he’d be removing it any time soon, even if the weather in Sienne was any chiller than Melys.

“I didn’t think you’d come,” Q said, as soon as Bond had landed.

“I keep my promises,” Bond said.He looked better—he’d cleaned himself and his armor, and he’d knocked the dents out.He almost looked respectable.“Have you made a decision?”

“Yes,” Q said.“But there’s just one thing.”

“Eh?”

“It’s a few days to Sienne, even on the back of a wyvern,” he said.“Are you really going to take me so far?”

“I keep my promises,” Bond said again.

“Then you should know—my name’s Q.”

“Q?Not Queris?”

“Q’s a nickname,” Q said, flushing.He felt stupid for mentioning it.

“Q,” Bond said.“Well, it’s a pleasure.Shall we?”

Bond pulled Q up onto Felix in front of him, handing him a package to hold onto.

“Your gold,” Bond said.

“I told you—”

“You might need it,” he said.“Sienne’s pricey.”

Q hadn’t thought about that—he’d need housing and food, and—

“Don’t worry,” Bond said.“I’m not putting you out.Felix likes you too much.”

Bond nudged Felix, and they started to rise.Q instinctively grabbed hold of the wyvern, snagging one of the short spikes along its head.Bond laughed, looping one arm around Q’s waist.

“Relax,” he said.“I’ve got you.”

“I’ve never flown before,” Q said, voice shaky.

“It takes some getting used to,” Bond said.“But don’t worry.I won’t fall again.”

“What happened yesterday?” Q asked.

Bond hesitated, then said, “Reconnaissance gone wrong.”

“Reconnaissance?Down here in the middle of nowhere?” Q asked.“Are you serious?”

“Absolutely,” Bond said.“I’m in…intelligence.There’s information everywhere, if you know where to look.”

_Spy_ , Q thought.

“Why tell me this?”

“You asked,” Bond said simply.“And, forgive me for saying, you’re in no position to spill secrets to my targets.”

Q snorted.Bond wasn’t wrong.“Are you threatening me?”

“No,” Bond said, “I’m warning you.”

“Very well,” Q said.“I won’t pry.”

“Thank you,” Bond said.

“No, thank you,” Q said.Bond held him a little tighter, urging Felix north, toward the capital.Q wasn’t entirely sure what he’d gotten into, but there was a man behind him who didn’t think his very existence to be a crime against nature.No matter what, it wouldn’t be boring.


End file.
